The new visa policies imposed on Nigerians by the United States of America since July 2025 is allegedly causing significant decline in the quest by Nigerians to travel to the US.
Although there is no substantial information from the US on the data regarding the alleged decline, the situation was compounded by rising airfares as the new restrictions first imposed in July 2025, limit most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas for Nigerians to a single entry valid for only three months.
Then on August 18, the US mission in Abuja in a message on X, its official social media handle formerly known as Twitter, mandated Nigerian visa applicants to disclose their social media profiles and activities in the last five years, stressing that failure to comply with the requirement could lead to denial of entry into the US.
This was an update on an earlier and similar regulation targeted at international student visa applicants, which mandated them to list and also remove the privacy settings from their social media handles to allow for proper vetting of the applications.
The US Embassy noted that this decision had become necessary as the regulation is part of efforts by the Donald Trump administration to “ensure national security” in the ongoing immigration tightening measures.
The new rule also stipulates that visa applicants are now required to provide information on their User ID, including the email address, Username, handle, and telephone number on all the platforms and applications they have used in the last five years.
The US also requires applicants, who have also used more than one platform or more than one username, handle or telephone number on a single platform within the same period, to list them in the DS-160 form.
Data from CEIC shows 6,507 Nigerians visited the U.S. in March 2025, an increase from 4,539 in February 2025. This monthly data is provided by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office and covers visitor arrivals from Nigeria to the US.
However, it was estimated that in 2024, approximately 116,969 visitors traveled from Nigeria to the United States, representing a slight increase from the previous year’s total of 114,263 visitors. The number witnessed a slight increase before the restrictions were imposed.
Nigerians are among the over 55 million US holders under scrutiny by the US State Department under the aegis of its ‘Continuous Vetting’ following intensified efforts by the Donald Trump administration to curtail the number of entries into the US.
Experts have said that this policy will harm Nigerian businesses, professionals, and families by making travel more difficult and expensive
International Affairs Expert, Livingstone Wechie told LEADERSHIP that the visa restrictions on Nigeria by the United States is in furtherance of the President Donald Trump’s America first agenda acting as the world’s police. It follows that in the eye of the US, any state that is not subservient will be treated like a criminal suspect, he added.
This idea of allowing America forever to look like Africa is hopeless must stop. I support everything Trump does to humiliate Africa so long as we make him not only regret later but to give ourselves the opportunity to walk into our delayed greatness that has been hiding under timidity.
“It is my view that the overall effect is for Nigeria to make itself indispensable to America and the West through strategic economic reforms. Nigeria must be intentional to avoid being a laughing stock. Already there is a closing-in plot beginning with the Canadian court that has proscribed the two leading political parties in Nigeria the People’s Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress as terrorist organizations. These are steps aimed at systematically disreputing Nigeria and undermining her development efforts,” Wechie said.
He charged the Nigerian leaders to rise to the occasion and lead the country and the rest of Africa to review relationships with the West through practicable and actionable domestic, regional and foreign policy frameworks that are aimed at repositioning our economy to bargain with and not beg the West.
“The threat of reciprocal policies on visa restrictions will not solve the problem. We must reverse the Africa to Africa visa application among African States and reinvigorate The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) wherein lies our future.
“We must stop looking out for favourable policies from America and their allies. We must play up our prospects and potentialities knowing that what America is doing is for America and we must do that which is for Africa. African governments must stop acting like they are under a spell. Because States like Russia and the Middle Eastern countries have asserted themselves, America and the West now treat them with extreme caution.
“It is time Nigeria and indeed Africa stops looking for soft-landing over what America does. It makes us look irrelevant and smoked out. If America pursues her interest, Africa or Nigeria should pursue her own interest. There is a window to leverage our diaspora potentials to promote our local strength against Western policy Encroachment.
“This must have a material impact on our people to make home more attractive than abroad. Make no mistakes, a new generation is here with us and they are watching the tide to know their next steps,” he added.
